Jackie Craig is running for Lakeville Area Public Schools Board of Education… and here’s why!

James, Katie, and I moved to Lakeville from Saint Louis Park when Katie was a toddler. We researched the Twin Cities metro based on the following criteria: housing value, ease of transportation, and school excellence. Lakeville was at the top of our list and we were able to find a home that fit our needs at a reasonable cost and in a great location. We were thrilled with the community’s dedication to exceptional education and excited about being part of one of the fastest growing cities in the metro. 

Us picking blueberries in Michigan last summer.

We enrolled Katie in Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) through Lakeville Area Community Education and the experience was so wonderful, I decided to donate time to the ECFE Advisory Council in a marketing role (2007-2008). In 2007, we welcomed Preston to our family and I remained on the ECFE Advisory Council, serving as Vice Chair (2008-2010) and then as Chair (2010-2011). I was invited to participate in Leadership Lakeville, sponsored by Lakeville Area Chamber of Commerce, as Chair of the ECFE Advisory Council. Both were amazing experiences! Collaborating with community members and school staff to have an impact on our community was extremely rewarding. 

Both Katie and Preston benefitted from quality classes at Small Wonders Preschool through Lakeville Area Community Education. Once again, we were thrilled with the high level of learning and excellent staff members. Our experiences with Community Education during sporting and other educational courses continued to be rewarding. Engaged children excited about play and learning are an asset to our community in many ways. Early childhood education programs are vital for building communities filled with families who are able to avoid use of safety net programs and trouble with the law. Other community benefits include improved graduation rates and higher employment earnings. 

Click HERE to Learn More

Katie attended Crystal Lake Elementary School for both kindergarten and first grade, while Preston remained in Small Wonders. Our involvement continued to build and we were pleased with our community and the services we enjoyed as active members. 

When Crystal Lake Elementary was closed due to budgetary concerns, it was a tough transition; however, as partners in our community we did our best to remain flexible and positive. Katie moved over to Oak Hills Elementary for second grade and after a year of volunteering, I decided to become officially involved in the Oak Hills Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). The co-president role was open, so I figured I might as well dive in headfirst! 

I learned a crucial lesson about being inclusive while serving as PTO president. I was reminded that not all people have had the experience our family has had. Not all relationships have been positive and not every education experience is without turmoil. My understanding comes from my perspective alone and it is important to listen to and empathize with the experiences of community members. All deserve the respect of having their voices heard because it will be as a community working together that we continue to prosper, making Lakeville one of the best places to raise a family. 

My family enjoying the Chart House's patio this spring.

What makes an effective school board member and what skills do I possess that qualify me to represent our community?

Vision

I support the Lakeville Area Public Schools vision of world-class, personalized learning ensuring the success of all students and am capable of measuring the success of our district and our superintendent against our goals. 

Transparency 

You will always know where I stand on issues. I also advocate for all open public meetings to be live feeds, including study sessions. An important role of the public sector is to debate publicly in accordance to the Minnesota Open Meeting Law.  

Communication

I enthusiastically participate in discussions about the direction of education in Lakeville and beyond. I am an active learner who is interested in ideas from everyone in my community that progress our community forward. 

Leadership & Collaboration

I have been leading successful teams for over 25 years. From high school and college level captain roles to senior management and volunteer leadership, I have led success through development of capable team members. 

Budget Management 

My professional experience includes fiscally sound government program budget management and reporting. The Minnesota School Finance Guide is an excellent resource.

Student Focus

My priority is to focus on what is best for all students and their achievement. Complying with laws regulating public education and advocating for community input is imperative.  

Public Education Advocacy

I am an active advocate for public education at the local, state, and national level and am able to collaborate with diverse populations. 

Us visiting the Soudan Underground Mine State Park. 

James and I look forward to being proud parents of Oak Hills Elementary students for 2014-15 with Katie in fifth grade Ignite! and Preston in first grade. Blessings for a safe and fun summer to you and yours!

REMINDER - Please vote in Jackie Craig as Lakeville Area Public Schools Board of Education member on November 4, 2014. Thank you!

Fair vs. Equal: Pattie Morales (Milwaukee Teacher & Guest Blogger)

About Me:

I have been teaching in Milwaukee Public Schools for the last eight years as a regular education and inclusion teacher. I live in the Enderis Park neighborhood of Milwaukee with my husband Juan and our three children: Stuart, age 10, Gabriel, age 4, and Isabella, age 1. My experience with special education also extends outside of the classroom. Stuart has been diagnosed with ADHD, Mood Disorder, and Tourette Syndrome.

Pattie with husband Juan and their children (by age) Stuart, Gabriel & Isabella.

Fair vs. Equal

Education advocates are quick to insist that academics need to be differentiated so that all students can be successful. Learning in the classroom should include strategies that meet the needs of all students, whether that includes technology, music, oral representations, or visual representations.  Teachers are directed to use the Multiple Intelligences during instruction and to offer multiple options for assessing a student’s understanding of a concept (e.g. multiple choice test, essay, project). There are professional development opportunities throughout the year for educators that focus on this topic. If there is a generally accepted understanding that not all students learn or express their understanding in the same way, then the leap can be made that not all students respond to behavior systems the same way.

The concept of a fair vs. equal behavior model is not new, however, it has not received the amount of attention that differentiated academics has (most likely because behavior concepts aren’t part of a standardized test). When teachers create a behavior plan for their classroom, it is often based on the school’s general plan. In Milwaukee, most schools have adopted the Positive Behavior Intervention and Support model (PBIS), which emphasizes being Safe, Respectful, and Responsible. How the classroom teacher interprets these rules in their classroom is often very different throughout a single building. This standardized behavior model offers consistency, which is important, but it doesn’t offer the flexibility that students (especially students with special needs) require. In a typical classroom, students are required to sit straight up in their desks, stay silent during instruction, and are given increasingly harsher consequences for each infraction of the rules. The idea behind fair vs. equal, is that just like with academics, students don’t respond to the same set of rules and consequences in the same way.

Don’t misunderstand. I’m not suggesting that teachers should have a separate set of rules and consequences for each student. That isn’t even remotely attainable. What I am advocating for is a better understanding of how our students respond to behavior systems, what their behavior triggers are, and how to reach them in a positive and appropriate way. This means that not all students will receive the same level of consequence for the same behavior, but that each person’s consequence will be fair and reasonable for the individual.

How does fair vs. equal look in a classroom?

A regular education student who has no previous behavior issues refuses to take their seat. A reasonable consequence would be moving down on the behavior chart or flipping their behavior card. On the other hand, a student who does have previous behavior issues may need more attention to the antecedent (event that precedes the action), than an immediate consequence. Having this student flip their card or go down on the behavior chart will often escalate the problem. Taking the time to identify the antecedent before deciding on a course of action will often not lead to the same consequence, but it will be what the student needs, which makes it the fair consequence.

To sum up what has been a longer blog post than I intended (and truly, I could go on for much longer, as I happen to truly like this particular soapbox), I will leave you with the poster that hangs in my classroom, as well as a link to another blog post about this topic.

Thank you to my guest blogger (and sister), Pattie Morales, for taking time out of her busy schedule to write an awesome guest blog for me! 

Peace to you and yours - Jackie

Why I Do Not Agree With Drug Testing Safety Net Program Recipients

I am about to share the true story of part of my childhood to help people understand who has the potential for "paying" for the very real challenges some adults face. This is one of the many reasons I do not support drug testing for families who rely on safety net programs. Please open your hearts and minds.

My mother and stepdad brought two wonderful babies into the world 35 years ago. Mom delivered the twins naturally (they were over 8 pounds each, mind you) and breastfed them in a spectacular fashion (sorry, no photos of that). See how adorable!

Thanks to Mom, those girls were well fed!

My stepdad suffered with PTSD from serving as a Marine in Vietnam (he was 19). He struggled with substances and other issues that I won't detail here. Addiction, when untreated, can have terrible effects on families. 

My family was struggling to make ends meet and needed to use safety nets provided by our government to sustain us. I am not exaggerating to share that we sometimes only had peanut butter and saltines to eat. Even as we started to make ends meet, we received government cheese, powdered milk, and other supplies that helped stretch our family funds.

This was us back in "the day."

Was it just that we were able to use food stamps while my stepdad was struggling with addiction? I argue that it most certainly was. He paid a high price for serving our country and I argue that it is imperative that we support all of our veterans (sorry for my little side-rant). 

I remember the feeling of walking down to the local grocery store with funny looking money to bring groceries home. It was embarrassing to not have "real" money, but I was hungry. Thank you to our government for not making me go without food and for keeping me healthy when my family was struggling. We may have fallen on tough times, but we survived. I won't even go into the details of how White Privilege helped (how about that... side-rant avoided). 

Peace to you and yours - Jackie

Human Beings Are Not Disposable

Admittedly, my sense of humor has a broad range; however, my comfort threshold becomes less lenient when communication implies that there are human beings who are disposable. 

Disposable humans because they lack knowledge, are hateful... are different in some way than you or me. No human, no matter how far they differ in opinion, culture, or any other factor is disposable. 

Picture from - TheHumanityProject.com

As a society, we can do much better (myself included) if we remind ourselves of this before we "rage" against a person instead of an idea we disagree with. 

Being passionate about a cause, no matter how just the cause, is not an excuse to attack another human. Attack the idea, share your frustration through humor and other means of communication you are comfortable with.

I challenge myself and others to disagree respectfully. Humans have plenty in common, even as we disagree on multiple issues. For me, the real challenge will be doing so while preserving my healthy sense of humor. 

Peace to you and yours - Jackie